Better player:Anthony Davis vs Jokic

[MyUniBroDavis]

Also the idea of davis not being able to lead a good offense is based on the fact that he didnt in new orleans

Yet if you take a pick and roll big man, and give him 1 solid playmaker in the entire lineup and horrible spacing (even the mirotic year only 3 players shot above 35% from three) you cant say whether or not he cant lead an offense based off of a poorly constructed one around him (that he still brought to top 10 status)

[yoyoboy]

Jokic.

On offense, he's the far superior playmaker/creator and passer. Davis is the better scorer but only when he's next to a playmaker that can maximize his finishing ability. They are comparable as shooters. Jokic isn't the type to regularly attempt 20+ shots a game but can be counted on to do so when needed without sacrificing his efficiency. I don't trust Davis as much to create for himself or others so I value Jokic as an offensive hub much more, especially in the half court.

On defense, Davis is clearly better as he can switch onto perimeter players, protect the rim, and his superior athleticism coupled with his length/agility allows him to cover a lot of ground. Jokic is obviously much more exploitable as he doesn't protect the rim and gets burned by quicker players. But Davis is no defensive anchor either. His defensive plays are more reactive than proactive and he doesn't possess the quarterbacking qualities of a Draymond or a LeBron. Even with Jokic's weaknesses, he is good enough in other areas (positioning, rotations, anticipating plays, good hands) that I don't see Davis' advantages on defense outweighing the offensive gap between the two.

How is AD not a defensive anchor? He was the biggest reason behind the #3 defense this year (-4.3 DRTG). And the defense that just held Portland's #3 offense on the year -9.1 points below their RS ORTG. LA's entire scheme revolves around aggressively chasing guys off the 3 point line and funneling perimeter players into the paint where Davis can force them into contested shots. He's crazy switchable, he's a great rebounder, and he's a top tier rim protector. Which is why he' finished 2nd in DPOY voting on the year. That sounds like a defensive anchor to me.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Jokic.

On offense, he's the far superior playmaker/creator and passer. Davis is the better scorer but only when he's next to a playmaker that can maximize his finishing ability. They are comparable as shooters. Jokic isn't the type to regularly attempt 20+ shots a game but can be counted on to do so when needed without sacrificing his efficiency. I don't trust Davis as much to create for himself or others so I value Jokic as an offensive hub much more, especially in the half court.

On defense, Davis is clearly better as he can switch onto perimeter players, protect the rim, and his superior athleticism coupled with his length/agility allows him to cover a lot of ground. Jokic is obviously much more exploitable as he doesn't protect the rim and gets burned by quicker players. But Davis is no defensive anchor either. His defensive plays are more reactive than proactive and he doesn't possess the quarterbacking qualities of a Draymond or a LeBron. Even with Jokic's weaknesses, he is good enough in other areas (positioning, rotations, anticipating plays, good hands) that I don't see Davis' advantages on defense outweighing the offensive gap between the two.

How is AD not a defensive anchor? He was the biggest reason behind the #3 defense this year (-4.3 DRTG). And the defense that just held Portland's #3 offense on the year -9.1 points below their RS ORTG. LA's entire scheme revolves around aggressively chasing guys off the 3 point line and funneling perimeter players into the paint where Davis can force them into contested shots. He's crazy switchable, he's a great rebounder, and he's a top tier rim protector. Which is why he' finished 2nd in DPOY voting on the year. That sounds like a defensive anchor to me.

Well his single year rapm says he wasnt that good at that mcgee was actually the best defensive center for the lakers and really cook is a better defender than davis SO I GUESS IT IS WHAT UT IS HUHHHHH

Tbf in the portland one, they were trapping the $hit oht of lillard and he couldnt do anything, although davis's best in the league recovery speed is why he could do this so aggressively

[Whopper_Sr]

Jokic.

On offense, he's the far superior playmaker/creator and passer. Davis is the better scorer but only when he's next to a playmaker that can maximize his finishing ability. They are comparable as shooters. Jokic isn't the type to regularly attempt 20+ shots a game but can be counted on to do so when needed without sacrificing his efficiency. I don't trust Davis as much to create for himself or others so I value Jokic as an offensive hub much more, especially in the half court.

On defense, Davis is clearly better as he can switch onto perimeter players, protect the rim, and his superior athleticism coupled with his length/agility allows him to cover a lot of ground. Jokic is obviously much more exploitable as he doesn't protect the rim and gets burned by quicker players. But Davis is no defensive anchor either. His defensive plays are more reactive than proactive and he doesn't possess the quarterbacking qualities of a Draymond or a LeBron. Even with Jokic's weaknesses, he is good enough in other areas (positioning, rotations, anticipating plays, good hands) that I don't see Davis' advantages on defense outweighing the offensive gap between the two.

How is AD not a defensive anchor? He was the biggest reason behind the #3 defense this year (-4.3 DRTG). And the defense that just held Portland's #3 offense on the year -9.1 points below their RS ORTG. LA's entire scheme revolves around aggressively chasing guys off the 3 point line and funneling perimeter players into the paint where Davis can force them into contested shots. He's crazy switchable, he's a great rebounder, and he's a top tier rim protector. Which is why he' finished 2nd in DPOY voting on the year. That sounds like a defensive anchor to me.

I think you're giving him too much credit for LA's elite defense. He may be the biggest reason but it's more by committee than Davis carrying them on that end. Did he suddenly become a DPOY-level defender after years of middling results in NO? Maybe our definition of an anchor is different. To me, an anchor is someone who read and counter what the offense is doing by directing traffic and making sure guys are where they are supposed to be, on top of making great defensive plays.

Yes, Davis is a very versatile defender but he's more of a solider than a general.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Jokic.

On offense, he's the far superior playmaker/creator and passer. Davis is the better scorer but only when he's next to a playmaker that can maximize his finishing ability. They are comparable as shooters. Jokic isn't the type to regularly attempt 20+ shots a game but can be counted on to do so when needed without sacrificing his efficiency. I don't trust Davis as much to create for himself or others so I value Jokic as an offensive hub much more, especially in the half court.

On defense, Davis is clearly better as he can switch onto perimeter players, protect the rim, and his superior athleticism coupled with his length/agility allows him to cover a lot of ground. Jokic is obviously much more exploitable as he doesn't protect the rim and gets burned by quicker players. But Davis is no defensive anchor either. His defensive plays are more reactive than proactive and he doesn't possess the quarterbacking qualities of a Draymond or a LeBron. Even with Jokic's weaknesses, he is good enough in other areas (positioning, rotations, anticipating plays, good hands) that I don't see Davis' advantages on defense outweighing the offensive gap between the two.

How is AD not a defensive anchor? He was the biggest reason behind the #3 defense this year (-4.3 DRTG). And the defense that just held Portland's #3 offense on the year -9.1 points below their RS ORTG. LA's entire scheme revolves around aggressively chasing guys off the 3 point line and funneling perimeter players into the paint where Davis can force them into contested shots. He's crazy switchable, he's a great rebounder, and he's a top tier rim protector. Which is why he' finished 2nd in DPOY voting on the year. That sounds like a defensive anchor to me.

I think you're giving him too much credit for LA's elite defense. He may be the biggest reason but it's more by committee than Davis carrying them on that end. Did he suddenly become a DPOY-level defender after years of middling results in NO? Maybe our definition of an anchor is different. To me, an anchor is someone who read and counter what the offense is doing by directing traffic and making sure guys are where they are supposed to be, on top of making great defensive plays.

Yes, Davis is a very versatile defender but he's more of a solider than a general.

I mean, 2015 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2017 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2018 he was arguably the best defender aft cousins was out, 2019 he quit midway through, and 2020 hes hit another level defensively

Neither giannis nor gobert call out defense like lebron does

[70sFan]

I'll pay attention to Davis defense in next games very closely because that's where his argument starts and ends.

Offensively, Jokic is clearly better. Better isolation scorer, much better playmaker and passer, comparable shooter. Davis is better off-ball, so he's a nice option as long as he has good perimeter creator. Jokic doesn't need any creator.

It's only 12 minutes, but you should check out the 1st quarter of Game 4 vs. Portland to see what Davis is capable of on any given night. Off the top of my head he blocked a couple of shots, contested a couple more misses at the rim, had a steal, forced two offensive fouls (one a charge) and generally completely f*cked up Portland's entire offense. Not even Russell or Olajuwon could play like that every night for 35 minutes, but he's generally in the ball park in terms of all-around havoc.

He's definitely not a true anchor like Gobert, and some of his defensive numbers are inexplicably mediocre. For example, Jokic ranked third in ESPN's defensive RAPM -- while he's definitely not a traffic cone, I don't think anybody would argue with a straight face that matches what we see -- while I gave up after the third page trying to find Davis. But I feel pretty confident saying that, with the exception of Shaq when he was engaged, he's easily the most disruptive defensive player we've had since prime Kareem.

He reminds me a lot of Marcus Smart with his instinctive play, swapping out quick hands for crazy length and agility. One of my favorite things he does is hustle down court in transition and swoop in like a condor to gobble up outlet passes. And it always feels like he's active around the rim and making things happen. We don't have a lot of great individual defenders -- lots of C-pluses and B-minuses -- but we still had a very good unit this season, for which I'd give him a ton of credit.

And offensively, I'm not even sure I'd concede that Jokic is "clearly" better. I love Jokic's all-around skill set for sure. You see him dropping 3s, creating like a point guard and banging inside and you think that, minus a huge deficit in athleticism, this probably isn't far off all the legends we heard about prime Sabonis. So he's obviously great, and much more of a true hub than Davis.

And yet, Davis still averaged a full 6 points more in comparable minutes, is a good playmaker in his own right (although I will say, he really struggles finding the open man out of double teams, which is a major flaw), draws way more FTs per shot and generally puts more pressure on a defense from an athletic standpoint. That's not to say I think he's necessarily better, to be clear. Jokic is awesome and historically unique. Just that Anthony is an excellent offensive player in his own right. And that's independent of LeBron, without whom he had five seasons of at least 24 ppg with excellent efficiency in New Orleans.

All of that said, you definitely can't build an offense around him like you can Jokic. He has a frustrating tendency to drift, and he reminds me a lot of David Robinson in that, despite their impressive skill sets, they rely on their athletic ability enough that their impact can be limited when games tighten up, especially at the end. For example, Davis is one of the best I've ever seen at catching and finishing around the rim, especially lobs. But that's not something you can always count on, is it?

Then there's the flagging aggressiveness. I can't remember ever having a player where it didn't seem like he played all that well, and he still ends up with 25-35 points on good efficiency. When his shot is dropping like it did in the last few games against Portland he's almost unstoppable. But that is frequently not the case, at which point he can be a really frustrating player.

Probably a lot of narrative in here, but that's my general take after getting to see Anthony up close every night for the first time. Some glaring flaws, for sure, but overall he's a remarkable player on both ends. I'd take AD in this comparison, but I'm biased, and I really like Jokic's game too.

Thank you for this input. I basically agree with everything you said, great post all-around!

[Whopper_Sr]

How is AD not a defensive anchor? He was the biggest reason behind the #3 defense this year (-4.3 DRTG). And the defense that just held Portland's #3 offense on the year -9.1 points below their RS ORTG. LA's entire scheme revolves around aggressively chasing guys off the 3 point line and funneling perimeter players into the paint where Davis can force them into contested shots. He's crazy switchable, he's a great rebounder, and he's a top tier rim protector. Which is why he' finished 2nd in DPOY voting on the year. That sounds like a defensive anchor to me.

I think you're giving him too much credit for LA's elite defense. He may be the biggest reason but it's more by committee than Davis carrying them on that end. Did he suddenly become a DPOY-level defender after years of middling results in NO? Maybe our definition of an anchor is different. To me, an anchor is someone who read and counter what the offense is doing by directing traffic and making sure guys are where they are supposed to be, on top of making great defensive plays.

Yes, Davis is a very versatile defender but he's more of a solider than a general.

I mean, 2015 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2017 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2018 he was arguably the best defender aft cousins was out, 2019 he quit midway through, and 2020 hes hit another level defensively

Neither giannis nor gobert call out defense like lebron does

Sure, if you go by potential and physical tools to be a top defender. But the Pelicans were never elite defensively even with Holiday, who is a great defender in his own right. Davis certainly had an argument in 15 but he was underwhelming in 16 and 17. In 18 and 19, he was still largely the same type of defender but made strides offensively.

Is it his defensive IQ? Coaching? Roster construction? The results were not quite reflective of what he's being touted as. The consistency is not there nor is the effort. His defensive impact is too dependent on external factors for me to consider him a true anchor.

I think Giannis is an overrated defender too. He's a solider, similar to Davis. Gobert doesn't call out plays either but his awareness is superior to that of Giannis and Davis.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I think you're giving him too much credit for LA's elite defense. He may be the biggest reason but it's more by committee than Davis carrying them on that end. Did he suddenly become a DPOY-level defender after years of middling results in NO? Maybe our definition of an anchor is different. To me, an anchor is someone who read and counter what the offense is doing by directing traffic and making sure guys are where they are supposed to be, on top of making great defensive plays.

Yes, Davis is a very versatile defender but he's more of a solider than a general.

I mean, 2015 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2017 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2018 he was arguably the best defender aft cousins was out, 2019 he quit midway through, and 2020 hes hit another level defensively

Neither giannis nor gobert call out defense like lebron does

Sure, if you go by potential and physical tools to be a top defender. But the Pelicans were never elite defensively even with Holiday, who is a great defender in his own right. Davis certainly had an argument in 15 but he was underwhelming in 16 and 17. In 18 and 19, he was still largely the same type of defender but made strides offensively.

Is it his defensive IQ? Coaching? Roster construction? The results were not quite reflective of what he's being touted as. The consistency is not there nor is the effort. His defensive impact is too dependent on external factors for me to consider him a true anchor.

I think Giannis is an overrated defender too. He's a solider, similar to Davis. Gobert doesn't call out plays either but his awareness is superior to that of Giannis and Davis.

Its way too simple to look at it that way though, that pelicans team should have been among the leagues worst defensively, having holiday doesnt automatically mean ur a good defensive squad when the rest of it is lacking

Davis at center in 2018 was legitimately a contender for best defender in the league, and being a top 5 defender in 2017 and 2015, had a down year in 2016 and didnt care in 2019

In 2017 they were a top ten defense, 2018 they were a top 10 defense once cousins was hurt

2015 might have been a stretch tbf tho, but i think the idea that a 2015 davis is better defensively than mature smarter versions doesnt make sense

Currebt davis has clearly taken a step defensively despite some metrics saying otherwise, its kind of unequivocal by anyone following his career

All performance is based on external factors.

Heres the thing, objectively speaking there arent any holes to his defensive game but there are many, many strengths.

His man defense is excellent, his help defense even more so, his motor is high, and his defensive iq is excellent, his positioning is great, and he gives the defense versatility

The idea that he is a medium iq defensive player relyinf on his physical tools is mostly from his early new orleans days, its not really applicable anymore

Defense isnt the way it used to be that one or two defenders means a top ranked defense because new spacing stuff means teams are better than ever at attacking holes in the D

[xb3at band1tx]

I feel like it's easier to hide Davis weaknesses then it is to hide Jokic on defense.

Davis just needs a decent playmaking guard and then he can go to work. Jokic needs an entire system to cater to him especially on defense. I like Mitchell, but he, Conley, and Clarkson had no business lighting up that Denver defense and if it wasn't for Harris coming back they probably win G7. Jokic was a prime suspect of getting murdered inside and out through some of those games.

In a H2H matchup I'd trust Davis more to dominate Joker.

[yoyoboy]

[Sure, if you go by potential and physical tools to be a top defender. But the Pelicans were never elite defensively even with Holiday, who is a great defender in his own right. Davis certainly had an argument in 15 but he was underwhelming in 16 and 17. In 18 and 19, he was still largely the same type of defender but made strides offensively.

Is it his defensive IQ? Coaching? Roster construction? The results were not quite reflective of what he's being touted as. The consistency is not there nor is the effort. His defensive impact is too dependent on external factors for me to consider him a true anchor.

I think Giannis is an overrated defender too. He's a solider, similar to Davis. Gobert doesn't call out plays either but his awareness is superior to that of Giannis and Davis.

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These are the DRTGs for the teams that all-time great defensive player Kevin Garnett has been on throughout his career. He didn't lead a single digit ranked DRTG team 12 of the first 13 years in his career. And not top 5 until after that. But once was in Boston, he was consistently anchoring an elite defense. It's not like he suddenly became a great defender once he hit 31; he's always been that. But coaching and supporting cast are important and in that regard AD has suffered just as much as Garnett did in his early career. No one can do it alone, and outside of Jrue, AD had hopeless defensive teammates and coaching on his team. And now once he has a good situation, we see the insane results of what he provides. Sure he's not calling out rotations for teammates like LeBron or Draymond, but does he have to in order to be a great defensive anchor? His mobility, positioning, athleticism, timing, and effort all more than make up for it. Also I do think it's worth mentioning the Davis is definitely peaking as a defender right now.

[Dupp]

I prefer Davis. No holes that NEED the be covered up and he’s good everywhere and an elite defender and off ball scorer. He’s also super versatile which is very important in the post season.


Jokic has been completely dominant in the post season both seasons don’t get me wrong but this series Utah we’re really able to take advantage of him defensively. I get there was no resistance on the perimeter but it’s still a decent weekness.


Both guys are so different it probably just comes down to roster construction but yeah I’d prefer AD to build toward a title.





I think if Lakers best Houston and clippers beat nuggets both their performances vs the clippers will tell a lot.

[JordansBulls]

Come on this is clearly Anthony Davis. He was the best player stats wise on the Lakers this year.

[dreamshake]

I feel like it's easier to hide Davis weaknesses then it is to hide Jokic on defense.

This is what it comes down to for me. It's really hard to build an elite team around a big who isn't good on defense. The only 2 examples in the last decade I can think of who fit that description and actually won (or even seriously contended for) a championship are:

Dirk's Mavs - It took a DPOY-level center in Chandler to make it workable. And playing Dirk & Chandler together would be much more difficult in today's game now that teams know how to counter with small-ball. Miami was still running giant lineups with Bosh at the 4 in 2011.

Cavs with Kevin Love. They managed to (just barely) overcome his awful defense by having a monumental effort by LeBron to cover for him and provide rim protection. But you can't really try to follow any kind of formula to replicate a LeBron team.

I really struggle to see a team winning a championship in today's NBA with Jokic as a max player tbh.

[Pelly24]

Murray didn't score consistently in that series. He scored 14, 12 and 17 points in three of 7 games. Jokic scored less than 20 only once and he scored over 28 in 5 of 7 games.

Again, as I said Davis is clearly better defender but acting that Jokic can't take over games offensively is just silly.

It’s not silly at all. I’ve seen a steady stream of scoring from him. I haven’t seen him take over and dominate games yet. Whenever a player does that consistently (example: Luka, KD, Kawhi), I give them immediate respect. I don’t know why that’s hard to accept.

And for the predictable “just scoring!” response(s), yes... scoring is by far the best clutch ability to have. The best clutch players of all time we’re elite scorers. Prove me wrong.

Jokic hit a game winner in game 7 last night, along with 30 points overall. He dominated in game 7 and he was guarded by the best defender in the world.

He's clutch and he's volume scorer, all against elite defense. What do you want from him? Scoring 40 ppg per game?

Davis hasn't proved that he can be clutch in postseason yet. He had easy first round win.

This is all fact. I’ve seen more elite crunch time play in two playoff seasons from Jokic than I ever have from AD at any point of his career. When you can pass, shoot from everywhere on the court, create your own shot and make your free throws and have a super IQ and can make one-legged 10-footers under tight defense, you’re pretty much a flawless offensive player. Jokic was really bad on defense this series, but that doesn’t usually seem to be much of a problem based on data. If your team is missing it’s best perimeter defender you’re going to have a problem. You can get a couple of solid perimeter defenders, though. Finding someone that can pass at an elite level, score 25-27 ppg on 60 TS% against good defense and control the entire game is extremely rare. Finding someone who’s also a proven clutch player on top of all of that is even harder. Jokic isn’t as good maybe, but he’s in the Luka and LeBron lane as far as that combo. AD isn’t the creator Luka is but he’s an elite defender and I’d say there’s not really a better second option in the league all things considered. You could put him with Dame and they could win a chip

[GSP]

Ad is on a completely different tier. Joker is a much better passer/playmaker and lead initiator for an offense but the defensive gap is just enormous in every aspect and Ad is still the better scorer on offense anyways

[Joey Wheeler]

Love Jokic's game on offense, super fun player to watch. But this comparison is just silly, Davis is all-time.

Just offense would be an interesting debate. Jokic is clearly better as an anchor but you don't really a center anchoring the offense ideally. From a team building perspective you're probably better served with AD's offensive skillset in most scenarios

[Whopper_Sr]

I mean, 2015 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2017 he was a top 5 defensive player, 2018 he was arguably the best defender aft cousins was out, 2019 he quit midway through, and 2020 hes hit another level defensively

Neither giannis nor gobert call out defense like lebron does

Sure, if you go by potential and physical tools to be a top defender. But the Pelicans were never elite defensively even with Holiday, who is a great defender in his own right. Davis certainly had an argument in 15 but he was underwhelming in 16 and 17. In 18 and 19, he was still largely the same type of defender but made strides offensively.

Is it his defensive IQ? Coaching? Roster construction? The results were not quite reflective of what he's being touted as. The consistency is not there nor is the effort. His defensive impact is too dependent on external factors for me to consider him a true anchor.

I think Giannis is an overrated defender too. He's a solider, similar to Davis. Gobert doesn't call out plays either but his awareness is superior to that of Giannis and Davis.

Its way too simple to look at it that way though, that pelicans team should have been among the leagues worst defensively, having holiday doesnt automatically mean ur a good defensive squad when the rest of it is lacking

Davis at center in 2018 was legitimately a contender for best defender in the league, and being a top 5 defender in 2017 and 2015, had a down year in 2016 and didnt care in 2019

In 2017 they were a top ten defense, 2018 they were a top 10 defense once cousins was hurt

2015 might have been a stretch tbf tho, but i think the idea that a 2015 davis is better defensively than mature smarter versions doesnt make sense

Currebt davis has clearly taken a step defensively despite some metrics saying otherwise, its kind of unequivocal by anyone following his career

All performance is based on external factors.

Heres the thing, objectively speaking there arent any holes to his defensive game but there are many, many strengths.

His man defense is excellent, his help defense even more so, his motor is high, and his defensive iq is excellent, his positioning is great, and he gives the defense versatility

The idea that he is a medium iq defensive player relyinf on his physical tools is mostly from his early new orleans days, its not really applicable anymore

Defense isnt the way it used to be that one or two defenders means a top ranked defense because new spacing stuff means teams are better than ever at attacking holes in the D

Maybe I undersold his improvement since coming to LA a bit. His defensive skill set looks more or less the same but the higher motor is noticeable. He can expend more energy on defense since he's not the 1st option on offense anymore.

I'll take your word for it on his defense in NO since I can't say I've watched too many of their games.

[Whopper_Sr]

[Sure, if you go by potential and physical tools to be a top defender. But the Pelicans were never elite defensively even with Holiday, who is a great defender in his own right. Davis certainly had an argument in 15 but he was underwhelming in 16 and 17. In 18 and 19, he was still largely the same type of defender but made strides offensively.

Is it his defensive IQ? Coaching? Roster construction? The results were not quite reflective of what he's being touted as. The consistency is not there nor is the effort. His defensive impact is too dependent on external factors for me to consider him a true anchor.

I think Giannis is an overrated defender too. He's a solider, similar to Davis. Gobert doesn't call out plays either but his awareness is superior to that of Giannis and Davis.

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These are the DRTGs for the teams that all-time great defensive player Kevin Garnett has been on throughout his career. He didn't lead a single digit ranked DRTG team 12 of the first 13 years in his career. And not top 5 until after that. But once was in Boston, he was consistently anchoring an elite defense. It's not like he suddenly became a great defender once he hit 31; he's always been that. But coaching and supporting cast are important and in that regard AD has suffered just as much as Garnett did in his early career. No one can do it alone, and outside of Jrue, AD had hopeless defensive teammates and coaching on his team. And now once he has a good situation, we see the insane results of what he provides. Sure he's not calling out rotations for teammates like LeBron or Draymond, but does he have to in order to be a great defensive anchor? His mobility, positioning, athleticism, timing, and effort all more than make up for it. Also I do think it's worth mentioning the Davis is definitely peaking as a defender right now.

Garnett is an extreme example even if their situations were somewhat comparable. We look back at those Minny teams and wonder why KG wasn't able to lead them to a top defense. His strengths on defense were certainly not maximized to the degree it could have been due to the era. He would be by far the best defensive player in today's league.

KG also shouldered a much bigger load on offense than AD did as a Pelican. He was often the initiator and playmaker on offense while simultaneously having to carry them on D. No player can handle that many responsibilities at once, even for a GOAT motor player like KG.

I stand by my definition of a defensive anchor but I still see AD's value. One thing I forgot is how young he is still. Turned 27 right before the COVID suspension so it does make sense that he's coming into his own as a defender now.

[Homer38]

Maybe we are going to see this matchup in the WCF!

2 great players!

[RCM88x]

Jokic is a significantly better offensive player, Davis is a much better defensive player.

I think Jokic is better overall because he's capable of being your #1 offensive guy and self sustaining good production. With AD you really need a dynamic perimeter guy or good PG to get the most out of him. Not sure if his defensive advantage makes up for that.